Birth Announcements: April 2014

Juliet Glass -
April 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C.
In January, Frederik De Pue, chef/owner of Table and 42° Catering, opened Menu MBK at 405 Eighth Street NW. The tri-level space (formerly Café Atlántico) is a three-in-one concept, with a market, bar, and restaurant spanning the three floors. The interior, designed entirely by De Pue, combines country chic (think repurposed barn doors) with the familiar ease of mid-century modern style furnishings. Along with an à la carte menu, De Pue and chef de cuisine Keith Cabot (whose résumé includes stints at Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc in Yountville, CA, and The Barn at Blackberry Farm in Walland, TN) also offer a $65 tasting menu at the six seat counter flanking the kitchen. Apps ($8 to $14): Brussels sprouts with bottarga and pine nuts; duck confit with farro, mint, and spaghetti squash. Mains ($18 to $25): grilled quail with grits, poached apples, and toasted chestnuts; butter-poached lobster with forbidden rice and caramelized onion broth. Desserts ($8): churros with horchata cream and dulce de leche; orange blossom panna cotta with pink grapefruit.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
Scott Shor and Rich Carley, owners of the Beer Exchange retail stores in Greenville and Charleston, opened their first restaurant in February, Edmund’s Oast (1081 Morrison Drive). The name of this 125 seat brewery-based restaurant is a merging of “Edmund Egan,” an English born brewer who settled in Charleston in the 1760s, and “Oast,” an old term for a kiln used for drying hops. The space, which houses an on-site brewery, sports a masculine Old World look. The ceiling, bar, and tables are fashioned from cypress wood—reclaimed, of course. The space is lit by oversized candlelit chandeliers. The progressive, seasonal menu is the work of chef Andy Henderson, who comes by way of San Francisco, where he worked at Local Mission Eatery. Julia Ingram, Henderson’s girlfriend and owner of Sweet Radish Bakeshop, handles desserts. Apps ($4 to $12): pumpkin custard with oyster mushrooms, peppercress, and shallots; whey-cooked polenta with slow-poached duck egg, charred pickled leek tops, and Parmesan. Mains ($16 to $27): guinea hen (roasted breast and smoked thigh), red Russian kale, rutabaga, and cornbread pudding; miso rubbed pork loin with turnip puree, braised greens, smoked ham hock dashi, and pea shoot pistou. Desserts: ($3 to $6): blood orange/almond cake with wildflower honey, whipped buttermilk, and chervil; chamomile panna cotta with kiwi, spiced grains, and nasturtium.